Tarter: Tax Day is right around the corner

Tax Day arrives on Tuesday and if you’re one of the 28 percent of Americans who haven’t filed their income tax yet, let’s pass on some tips from the folks at WalletHub.

Make a plan: The whirlwind that is last-minute tax filing can cause paralysis by analysis. To avoid that, WalletHub’s experts recommend making an itemized list of what needs to be done that you can cross off as you go.

Adopt a filing system: There’s a correlation between one’s organization and the time it takes to complete a tax form. Your filing system can be as simple as five envelopes with insurance receipts, medical, home/car repairs, etc.

Contributing to an IRA: IRA contributions — up to $5,500 for most people and $6,500 if you’re 50 or older — are both tax-deductible and tax-deferred. Make sure to send the contribution by April 15 and notify the deposit institution that you want it counted for 2013 tax purposes.

Use your losses: If you itemize deductions, don’t forget to subtract realized capital losses, gambling losses, mortgage interest, and interest incurred on business loans and lines of credit throughout the year. All are deductible to varying extents.

Corporate taxes

Speaking of taxes, we touched on the Senate committee that looked into Caterpillar Inc. last week and Caterpillar’s use of Switzerland to defray tax payments.

The Wall Street Journal’s Maxwell Murphy recently noted things may soon change in regards to this country’s corporate tax — 35 percent and the highest in the world.

“Within a year, Congress’s power brokers on taxes will have to be replaced as the old guard retires, giving corporations hope for a tax overhaul,” stated Murphy.

“Corporate finance chiefs complain the current tax system puts them at a competitive disadvantage with foreign rivals and prevents them from moving cash where it is needed most. For companies with most of their cash abroad, that could mean issuing debt to finance dividends and buybacks,” Murphy wrote.

Credit card update

CardHub reports that credit card interest rates rose across the board for the first three months of the year, rising 2.1 percent over the same period last year.

Balance transfers continue to get sweeter, noted CardHub, with the length of the average introductory period where you pay 0 percent interest rising to 3.7 percent over 10 months.

U.S. parents report the world’s second-lowest level of confidence in their kids’ money management skills — second only to Bosnia, according to a Visa study.

We’ve got work to do. “The average person has about 20 percent of the financial literacy they need to be self-sustainable and believes that their ‘wants’ are really essential items,” said Barbara Neuby, professor of personal finance at Kennesaw State University.

Steve Tarter is Journal Star business editor. Tarter’s phone number is 686-3260, and his email address is starter@pjstar.com. Follow his blog, Minding Business, on pjstar.com and follow him on Twitter @SteveTarter.